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Historian highlights Brookline’s enslaved residents and proposes interpretive sign at town‑hall plaque
Summary
Barbara Brown of Hidden Brookline briefed the Select Board on local enslaved residents named on a town‑hall plaque and urged the board to add an interpretive sign identifying three enslaved men and their role in the Revolutionary War era.
Barbara Brown, founder of Hidden Brookline, used the Select Board’s public‑comment period on April 15 to outline research on enslaved people in Brookline and to urge the town to add interpretive signage near a town‑hall plaque.
Brown said she founded the Hidden Brookline project in 2006 after discovering that names of three enslaved men (listed on a town plaque in abbreviated form) were effectively invisible to readers. She described the three men — identified on historical records as Peter, Prince and Adam (the latter described as “Esquire Gardner’s Adam” in local records) — and summarized what is known of their stories: Peter is recorded in local records on a single date; Adam reportedly died after the Battle of Lexington and was brought home by a wagon; Prince left Brookline in pursuit of freedom in 1779 and likely boarded a ship from Salem to reach safety, Brown said.
Brown said most visitors to the plaque overlook the abbreviations indicating enslavement and that the public would benefit from a small sign near the plaque that calls out the presence and names of enslaved people in Brookline and recognizes their contributions during the Revolutionary era. She proposed the town add a short interpretive sign — an educational caption near the plaque — and notified the board that Hidden Brookline offers walking tours and educational programming.
Board members thanked Brown for the research and suggested staff coordinate with Historic Preservation and the Historical Society to place contextual signage and consider the attorney general’s review where required for markers on public property. Brown said she would follow up with staff and civic groups.
